Improvement in machines for compressing the ends of blind-slats



E. CATHER. Machine for Compressing the Ends of Blind-'Sla'ts. N0.l67,824,

Patented Sept. 21,1875.

Fig.1. If"

NVPETERSv PKOYO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTONv D Cv UNrrE STA'I'Es PATENT .EDWIN OATHER, OF PORT DEPOSIT, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR COMPRESSING THE ENDS 0F BLIND-SEATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.1 67,824., dated September 21, 1875; application filed January 23, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, EDWIN GATHER, of Port elevation; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section; and Fig. 4, detail views of one of the disks M.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawings denote the same parts.

The object of this invention is to provide for public use an improved machine foncompressing and bevelin g the ends of blind-slats, which shall accomplish the work effectually and rapidly, and with a great saving of labor and expense. To this end the invention consists, first, in an improved mode or principle of op eration of the parts employed for compressing and beveling the ends of the slats; secondly, in the devices for carrying such principle into practice; thirdly, in the adjustability of such devices to operate upon slats of different lengths; and, fourthly, in an improved feed, all substantially as 1 will now proceed to set forth.

In the drawings, F is the frame of the machine, which may be of any suitable construction for supporting and accommodating the working parts, and which should be made of metal or strengthened with metal tie-rods, or otherwise adapted to stand the vibration and strain when runningat great speed; and Gr G are upright guides,'adj ustable toward and from each other, and having their proximate faces vertically grooved, to receive and hold the ends of the slatswhen the latter are piled up on-theblocks or cross-beams b b. That part of the guides G in which the grooves e e are cut does not extend quite down to the level of the top of the blocks b b, and the lower slat drops out of thegrooves when it falls upon said blocks, all the sla ts above it having their ends, meanwhile, retained in the grooves. The lower slat can, therefore, when on the supporting-blocks, be pushed laterally off of said blocks, so as to fall from the front side of the machine, and the next slat will descend from the grooves and take its place on the blocks; S is the main shaft, which, by means of bevelgears s s a a, drives two vertical shafts, A A, one of which, A, is fixed, while the other, A, is capable of being adjusted longitudinally of the machine by means of sliding bearings D D, operated by a screw, t. The gear s is secured tothe shaft S by a spline, and is held against the gear a by a bent plate, 1 so as to 7 change position on its shaft according tothe adjustment of the parts D D. The guide G and supporting-block b are attached to the movable parts D D, and are adjusted with them by turning the screw-rod t. Aline passing through the centers of both shafts A A would extend a short distance in front of the column of slats held in the notches e 6. MM are two disks or wheels, supported on the upper ends of the shafts A A, and rotating therewith- Each is provided with one, two, or more peripheral grooves or recesses, m, exactly fitted to give the required compression and bevel to the ends of the slats when the latter are forced into them. At the rear edge of each recess a spur, m, preferably grooved along its front edge, projects from the periphery of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 1, the spurs on one wheel corresponding in position and movement to those on the other. The wheels M M, grooves e e, and blocks 1) b are so arranged and adjusted with relation to each other and to the dimensions of the slats, that, as the wheels revolve, two corresponding spurs--one on wheel M and the other on wheel Mseize the lowerslat by the ends and force it forward with'them until its ends pass .into

the recesses m m, which are situated i'mmedi- At almost the same instant is discharged over the front edge of the frame, or upon a s-uitable table or other receptacle, finished andready for use.

The machine operates with the utmost uniformity and certainty, and with great rapidity. With two recesses and spurs to each wheel, the wheels can be driven at a speed of one hundred revolutions perminute, compressing and bevclin g two hundred slats. It requires no skilled attendants, but. can beeperated -perfectly well by boyswith a few minutes instruction, the only thing that the workman has to do being toi keep itsuppliedwithmaterial, and to remove. the finished slats before they accumulate in too great quantities. As

compared with hand labor, heretofore generally employed 'for the purpose, tl1e machine with twoattendants does. the same work inone day that will. require three persons. twenty-four days. to do: by hand.

There are modifications of the operative partsthat will be. obvious to any skillful mechanic after he is instructed as to the general principle of the machine, and which, therefore, I. consider as: included within the limits of my invention. For example, the wheels M M may be made eccentric, so as to increase. the pressure on the ends: of the slats, and the spurs may be varied in form almost indefiner herein described.

nitely. So, too, any approved modeof drivjnsting them toward and from each other, [I] ay. be employed, and the construction of the feed-. ing devices may be varied.

I claim as my invention- 1. The wheels M M, provided with. the recesses m and projections m, adapted to the purposes referred to, substantially in the man- 2. The combination of the two compressing and beveling wheels M M, constructed to 1'0- itate simultaneously with. equal speed in oppo {site directions, so as to seize and act upon both ends of a slat simultaneously.

3. The combination of the two wheels MM with the slat-supports and feed-grooves, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. The stationary com-pressing and bevelin-g wheel M, combined with the adjustable wheel M, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. r

In witness that the above is my invention I hereto subscribe my name this 15th day of January, A. D. 187 5..

- EDWIN. GATHER. Witnesses:

L. HILL, M. Omen. 

